Nursing students combat nutritional deficiencies from food insecurity

Students, faculty and alumni of the College of Saint Elizabeth’s nursing program prepared over 100 servings of nutritious food for the New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) Region 1’s Kitchen Outreach Project. In addition to preparing meals, members of the CSE community also donated more than 50 pounds of beef, eggs, onions, peppers, tomatoes and saltines to the program.

Organized by CSE professors Josie Sanchez, ’06, and Dr. Eileen Specchio with assistance from Sandra Foley, the NJSNA Region 1 President and member of CSE’s class of ’08, this experience exposed students to the medical dangers of food insecurity. Since the program enabled each student to interact with members of the community on a personal level, it counted toward their required hours for the community nursing course.

“The people who received the food were predominately from low-income households or currently experiencing homelessness,” explains Specchio. “Each person was very grateful for the assistance. It was a great experience.”

Later this year, the nursing program plans to do another outreach project with the NJSNA Region 1.

Mary Colleen Robinson has a communication degree with a concentration in journalism and is currently working as the PR/Social Media Specialist at the College of Saint Elizabeth